One Machine Offers HV Leak Detection and Vision Inspection of Syringes

Seidenader Maschinenbau claims to have combined visual inspection with high voltage (HV) leak detection in an automatic syringe inspection machine for the first time.

In addition to camera-based inspection of parenterals, in recent years Seidenader has been focusing increasingly on complementary inspection technologies — including the use of HV, polarimetric inspection or near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to check for leaks and integrity of containers — to identify the product or to avoid cross contamination. These technologies are provided either on their own platform as a standalone machine or integrated as a module into a high-performance inspection machine.

Such integration offers enormous advantages in terms of lower initial costs, easier handling and maintenance, smaller footprint and reduced training requirements for operators. Beyond that all inspection results come from one single source.

The MS-S machine has two carousels that are linked by a turn-over starwheel in order to ensure optimal conditions for both camera-based inspection and HV inspection.

For visual inspection, the syringes are transported vertically in the carousel with finger grip down. Doing so, particles hidden in the syringe cone are brought into motion and become detectable for the camera. In the HV inspection station, however, presentation of the syringes in needle-down position is preferable, because in this orientation the complete surface of the inner wall of the syringe can be wetted by rotation. This is especially important for the syringe cone, which is the most critical part for leak detection, thereby creating conditions for optimal HV inspection.

To prevent accidental flashovers, discharges, electrical leakage or interference fields at the HV inspection station, the product grippers, which retain the syringe by the finger grip, are electrically nonconductive owing to a special, extremely durable plastic. In addition, appropriate insulation paths have been established between the HV electrodes and the electrically conductive parts of the machine. These structural modifications led to the construction of a syringe inspection machine on a MS-S platform that combines visual inspection for particles and cosmetic defects with HV inspection for integrity of syringes, with a throughput of up to 24,000 products per hour.

The HV inspection module is designed for a capacity of 36,000 syringes per hour and therefore can also be integrated into the Seidenader high-speed inspection machine VI-S.

Seidenader Maschinenbau GmbH, +49 8121 802 486, heidrun.sing@seidenader.de, www.seidenader.de.